It has been a while since we covered a machete on the blog, so today we are going to look at an interesting variant, or to be more accurate an interesting machete scabbard. The most common scabbards to find are those made of leather, however this was not the only material used to make a scabbard from and some machetes can be found with a hard green fibre scabbard instead:

The machete inside is a fairly standard pattern, with a rivetted wooden handle and heavy slashing blade:

The maker’s mark is roller stamped onto the blade, together with a large /|\ acceptance mark:

Returning to the scabbard, this is moulded from green fibre, with a white leather throat secured with a set of pop rivets:

Note also the tab and stud used to secure the handle of the machete. This fibre scabbard is rivetted to a leather belt loop to allow it to be carried:

This is dated 1943 and again has inspector’s marks stamped into the leatherwork. These scabbards offered an alternative to leather that would have been less susceptible to rot in the jungle, however they were not without their problems. The machete had to be a looser fit within the scabbard, both because the scabbard was more rigid, but also because of the limitations of the manufacturing process. This looser fit makes the scabbard move around far more than in a traditional scabbard and this creates a lot more noise, the open nature of the scabbard also serving to amplify this. Whilst walking there is definite rattle coming from this design of machete and cover! This example is in remarkably good condition, however extended use led to the green finish wearing off the scabbard, leaving it in a mucky, off-white colour. This particular scabbard seems far rarer than the leather version normally encountered and I suspect that many were quickly disposed off after the war in favour of the traditional leather versions making it especially nice to be able to add this one to the collection.